Hobbes and Spinoza

Term:
Fall 2010

Subject Code:
GPHI

Course Number:
6113

The aim of these lectures is to introduce students to Hobbes and Spinoza
by focusing on their theory of imagination. Many interpreters have underlined the
similarities between Hobbes and Spinoza, particularly between their political
philosophies. During this course, we will set up a more general comparison, by
underlining both the similarities and the differences of their approaches to
imagination, which particularly emerge when situating their views within their
more general philosophical systems and their respective historical contexts.

What is imagination? What role does it play in our lives? How does it
relate to passions and reason respectively? Is imagination a source of
oppression or a means for emancipation? These lectures address such questions
by focusing mainly on Hobbes' Leviathan and Spinoza's Ethics (but
including passages from other works where appropriate). In doing so, we will explore
the epistemological, the moral and the political aspects of their theories of
imagination.